refer directly to this event, and they speak of the Urartian's defeat and losses. Other letters deal with the Urartian preparations for the expedition against the “land of Gimirra” (Lanfranchi and Parpola 1990).
The letter SAA V 145 (Deller in Pecorella and Salvini 1984: pp. 102–103. No 2.1) clearly says that the Cimmerians came “from the land of Mana,” that is from the southeast, not directly from the north, i.e. from the Caucasian mountains, as the traditional reconstruction maintains. I think that this episode took place not long before the Eighth Campaign, perhaps in 715 BCE.
The Last Century of the Urartian History
During the seventh century BCE the relations between Urarṭu and Assyria apparently became peaceful. Argišti II, successor to Rusa I, was concentrated in the northern territories, as we learn from his rock inscriptions in Azerbaijan and a stele in Armenia (CTU A 11‐3,4,5,6), and his son Rusa II excelled in the construction of beautiful fortified towns and residences like Karmir‐blur, Bastam, Kef Kalesi (literature by Zimansky 1998), Ayanis (Çilingiro
Robert Rollinger (2009), on the basis of a new reading of the Nabonidus Chronicle, maintains that Urarṭu was not destroyed by the Medes in the seventh century BCE but survived until the campaign of Cyrus in 547 BCE. It is possible that some form of state survived after the extinction of the written records, but it was no more the imperial power of the preceding centuries. A few decades later, with his equation Armina = Urašṭu, Darius testifies the presence of the new ethnic element, the Armenians, in the old Urartian territory. If we speak of political continuity, we have to stress that no one of the usurpers against whom Darius fought presents himself as the king of Urarṭu, and there is no reference to the old capital city of 瞈ušpa. However the name
The last mentions of Urar
Urartian Chronology
| Assyrian kings | Synchronisms (see Fuchs 2012) | Urartian kings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shalmaneser III (859–824 BCE) | Quotes Ar(r)amu the Urartian (years 859, 856, 844 BCE) | [no written records] | |
| [written records of:] | |||
| Shalmaneser III | Quotes Seduri, the Urartian (year 832 BCE) | = | Sarduri I, son of Lutibria (c. 840–830 BCE) |
| Shamshi‐Adad V (823–811 BCE) | Quotes Ušpina (year 820 BCE) | = | Išpuini, son of Sarduri (c. 830–820 BCE) |
| Co‐regency of Išpuini and Minua (c. 820–810 BCE) | |||
| [no synchronism] | Minua, son of Išpuini (c. 810–785/780 BCE) | ||
| Shalmaneser IV (781–772 BCE) | Quotes Argištu/i (year 774 BCE) | = | Argišti I, son of Minua (785/78–756 BCE) |
| Ashur‐nirari V (754–745 BCE) | Quoted by (year 754 BCE) | Sarduri II, son of Argišti (756–c. 730 BCE) | |
| Tiglath‐pileser III (744–727 BCE) | Quotes Sarduri, Sardaurri (years 743, 735? BCE) | = | Sarduri II |
| Sargon (721–705 BCE) | Quotes Ursā/Rusā (years 719–713) | = | Rusa I, son of Sarduri (c. 730–713 BCE) |
| Quotes Argišta (year 709 BCE) | = | Argišti II, son of Rusa (713–? BCE) | |
| Sennacherib (704–681 BCE) | [no synchronism] | ||
| Esarhaddon (681–669 BCE) | Quotes Ursā (year 673/672 BCE) | = | Rusa II, son of Argišti (first half of the seventh century BCE) |
| Erimena (LÚaṣuli?)b | |||
| Ashurbanipal (669–627 BCE) | Quotes Rusā (year 652 BCE)c | = | Rusa III, son of Erimena |
| Ashurbanipal | Quotes Ištar/Issar‐dūrī (year 646/642 BCE) | = | Sarduri III, son of Sarduri |
